Take This Broken Wing
by Rosie2009
Summary: Aurora has come to visit her godmother. However, Maleficent is acting exceedingly strange. Can Aurora find out why? Aurora and Maleficent mother/daughter feels and Diaval thrown in, too, because we all love him.


Aurora waved happily at all of the many daytime creatures of the Moors as a pleasant mist surrounded her in a foggy haze. The miniscule droplets of fresh water promised nothing but a beautiful day, and Aurora felt a sense of joy rising within her.

Yet another small fae brought her a beauteous rose. Every beat of its wings was a burdensome effort and it seemed to be having much difficulty dragging the blossom to Aurora. Upon realizing its exhaustion, Aurora was sure to quickly and very gratefully receive it from the poor thing before its tiny wings could give out.

Aurora smiled, curtsying to the fae, before she weaved it carefully in her hair to add it to her growing collection that she had received on this visit.

All of the creatures of the Moors were very sweet and Aurora made sure to take the time to greet each and every one of them, but there was one faerie in particular that Aurora had come to see.

Aurora stood up on the balls of her feet, trying to see where her godmother was awaiting her. The blonde furrowed her brow, not seeing the Dark Faerie anywhere nearby. Aurora lowered herself back down flat upon her feet and looked at all of the creatures.

"Do any of you know where Maleficent is?" Aurora kindly questioned.

Immediately, she was met with apprehensive looks, faints, and some of the fae surrounding her even flittered away in a sheer panic. Aurora shook her head with a smile, rolling her eyes fondly at all of them.

"Sillies! You all know that Maleficent is not a danger to you," Aurora sweetly laughed at the group of them. They all shared an odd glance as if they knew something that Aurora did not. The blonde gazed at the lot of them curiously.

"What is it?" Aurora questioned, but the faerie that had brought her the latest rose she had put in her hair simply pointed in a direction before they all dispersed with backward glances thrown to the girl.

Aurora turned and looked where the faerie had directed, and she spotted a great figure in the distance. Her face lit up in the largest of grins as she hurried toward her godmother.

Before long, she was upon the woman and she excitedly beamed as she bounced happily through the grass.

"Hello, Godmother!" Aurora cheerfully called, and Maleficent spun quickly on her heel to face her, her eyes wide in an exceedingly uncharacteristic show of surprise.

"Beastie! I was not expecting you today," Maleficent slowly greeted, keeping a close watch on the blonde. Aurora tilted her head slightly in minor confusion as she considered her godmother's response. It was a little odd for Maleficent to be so tentative.

"I asked Diaval to let you know that I was coming. Perhaps he was distracted and hadn't quite made it here yet before I arrived," Aurora cheerfully continued. However, when Maleficent maintained her strange posture, Aurora furrowed her brow, noticing that something was off.

However, after a moment, she ultimately decided to let it go, knowing that her godmother would surely share with her whatever could be amiss in her own time. Besides, it was most likely that Aurora had startled her and she still hadn't quite let down her guard from the surprise.

"So, how have you been?" Aurora questioned, full of bubbly enthusiasm as she lessened the distance between the two of them. Maleficent slightly angled her body as the blonde moved nearer, and Aurora couldn't help but realize that Maleficent was seeming to purposefully keep Aurora to the left side of her. It was almost as if she was hiding something.

"I have been well, thank you. How have you been, my dear?" Maleficent somewhat awkwardly returned the inquiry.

Aurora felt some fear grip her as she immediately realized that something had to be wrong. The way Maleficent was acting coupled with the creatures' reactions from the mere mention of her godmother's name only indicated some troublesome abnormality. The girl swallowed carefully, stepping a bit closer to her godmother, as her smile fell away.

"Godmother, I am afraid I cannot help but notice… Are you hiding something from me?" Aurora hesitantly asked, and she worriedly noted the slight panic that entered Maleficent's gaze that was quickly guised as soon as it appeared.

"Of course not," Maleficent quite shortly replied, clearly attempting to cut off whatever ideas were coursing through the blonde's brain.

However, this only served to concern the girl even more, and she drew ever closer to the other woman as she surreptitiously tried to observe and see whatever Maleficent was so diligently concealing. She was honestly rather terrified at this point that Maleficent had done something to hurt herself, and Aurora wished that her godmother would simply admit that something was awry.

"Well, would you mind if we walked for a bit?" Aurora baited, carefully waiting for Maleficent's possible response. She knew that her godmother would never turn down a walk through the beauteous nature of the Moors.

"I am rather tired right now, Beastie. I would prefer that we just remain here," Maleficent replied, and Aurora could see her stubbornness and cunning shining through in that moment. Aurora looked at Maleficent with a sad expression, hating the feeling that Maleficent wasn't trusting her.

Aurora watched as Maleficent's expression soften and she attempted to reach out her hand to the girl, her right side extending a bit and moving into view just before the winged woman's eyes widened and she sharply gasped, drawing her arm back quickly to her as she furrowed her brow. Aurora could easily see that the woman was in great pain.

"Godmother! Are you alright?!" Aurora cried, starting toward Maleficent quickly before the older woman held out a hand weakly to stop her.

"I am alright. I'm alright," Maleficent confidently assured, and Aurora furrowed her brow, silently imploring Maleficent to confess the truth.

The Dark Faerie watched her closely for a moment, but she eventually slowly turned to the side, exposing her right wing in all of its glory. It was all that the blonde could do not to gasp in pure horror at the sight.

The normally so gorgeously feathered wing was bent at an angle that could only be described as positively unnatural, and the feathers were ruffled scraggily around the joint of it.

"Don't worry yourself, my dear. It is nothing. I assure you," Maleficent told her firmly, but Aurora could easily see the brokenness of the older woman's wing as it hung lower than usual and her body was stiffened in an unnatural posture. Aurora also somewhat painfully noted the obvious fear behind Dark Faerie's gaze.

"Come now. Don't be silly," Aurora laughed in somewhat frightened disbelief, approaching the woman and watching as Maleficent ever so slightly shrank back from the girl's extended hand.

"There is no need to worry. It is already well on the path to healing." Aurora shook her head in silent negation of the Dark Faerie's statement as she held her ground, refusing to give Maleficent her personal space and at the same time not pushing any more into it.

"Can I at least see it?" Aurora pleaded with her, feeling an impending growth of dread in her stomach as she thought she saw a glimmer of a dark wetness tinted the slightest shade of an easily recognizable red around the feathers.

Aurora just wished that her godmother could actually admit that there was a definite problem instead of perpetually denying it in an attempt to negate the fact that there was an issue in the first place. It was well-known that Maleficent was fiercely defensive of her Beastie to the point of overt aggression and that she fondly doted over Aurora in her own strange manner, but few were actually able to see the other side of the coin in which Aurora was deeply caring for her godmother.

Maleficent stared at Aurora for a long moment, her defiant, blazing-green orbs boring holes into Aurora's own.

The blonde knew that Maleficent's wings were a very special, and very personal aspect of her and absolutely no one had the privilege to touch them outside of Aurora herself. However, upon the instance that one of them was injured, Aurora was not sure how far that her rights extended.

Maleficent was quite obviously panicking about this entire injury despite its seriousness or lack thereof, and Aurora was mostly certain that her godmother must have absolutely no experience with damaging her wings badly outside of when they were brutally ripped from her by _that_ man.

The older woman held Aurora's gaze for several seconds more before very hesitantly and slowly proffering her wing for Aurora to examine. It was a true testament to Maleficent's deep trust in her Beastie that she allowed Aurora to examine the wound when she was so vulnerable to anything and everything that could come her way.

Aurora slowly approached Maleficent, knowing that simply raw instinct was guiding some of the Dark Faerie's actions because of the strange look in the older woman's eyes. It was her natural fear and protectiveness of her wings clashing with her endless love and care for Aurora. Aurora was not afraid in the least that Maleficent would hurt her in the midst of a frightened frenzy, but she still wanted to avoid any fear that she could.

Once she was standing before the older woman, the blonde tentatively reached out and touched the great wing. Aurora gently brushed away the feathers around the offended spot and she queasily noticed that there was a positively revolting gash there. To her relief, it didn't seem to be too deep, but it was bleeding rather steadily.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Aurora assessed, her eyes wide as she swallowed hard in an attempt to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged. However, before the girl could even begin to help her godmother, it quickly came to the blonde that she had no idea how to do accomplish this feat.

She sighed slightly, looking around quickly as she tried to think of an idea that would work. Aurora closed her eyes as she tried to remember the few books that she had actually brought herself to read during her time with her aunties. Reading was never her favorite activity, and she would have much preferred to spend her time outdoors.

She looked down at her shoes covered by her dress, and it suddenly came to her. Aurora took the ends of her dress in her hands.

"Beastie, what _are_ you doing?" Maleficent questioned in slight disbelief just before Aurora ripped the bottom of her dress. She turned back to face her godmother, a smile on her face as she raised the tatters to the fae's wing.

"Don't worry, Godmother, this will help," Aurora cheerily assured her. "It might hurt, though, so ready yourself."

Maleficent eyed her carefully as the blonde touched her cloth to the wing. She hissed under her breath as the girl put pressure upon the open wound.

"Sorry," Aurora apologized immediately as she held it there for several long minutes. She could tell that it was quite painful indeed, if Maleficent's rigidly stiff posture was anything to go by.

Once Aurora felt that it might have stopped its leakage and that she actually had the stomach to face it once again, the girl removed the torn, now stained shred of her dress from her godmother.

To her utmost relief, it seemed to be clotted enough so that it wasn't bleeding any more. Aurora carefully tossed the soiled cloth away from them, and she examined the wing closely.

"We need to find something to hold it in place," Aurora announced, and Maleficent's eyes went wide in pure terror. Aurora felt the Dark Faerie's fear stab her own heart deeply, and she felt a great pain at being the cause of those feelings. She reached for her godmother's hands quickly and took them in her own in an attempt to reassure the woman.

"Don't worry. It's just me, and everything will be alright. I'm going to help you," Aurora calmly explained. Maleficent nodded and Aurora watched a strength return to her eyes that had not been there the entire time that Aurora had spoken to her that day.

Maleficent gazed around them, her calculating stare raking across the nearby ground as well as afar as she searched for a way to help the girl hold her wing into place.

"My dear, will you help me to sit down?" Maleficent coolly questioned, keeping the strain out of her voice as she tried to move toward a nearby stone. Aurora quickly jumped to action, taking the woman's arm on her good side and helping her down to the rock's smooth surface.

Maleficent finally rested carefully on the boulder, barely a sound coming from her other than a slight sigh. However, Aurora knew that the fae was experiencing excruciating pain in her wing due to their function as her primary source of balance.

"Now, Beastie, go gather some twigs. I think I can remedy this," Maleficent instructed her calmly, eyeing her with that familiar fondness that was always there.

Aurora nodded quickly and rushed off, taking as many small sticks as she could possibly carry along her way. She made a large loop around the area where Maleficent was resting, asking several creatures if they would help her bring some twigs to contribute to the effort.

She finally returned to her godmother, almost tripping over a root in her haste to return.

"Do not fall lest you end up in the same situation as I," Maleficent dryly informed her, but Aurora sensed the very much concerned undertones laced in her voice.

The blonde proudly dropped an entire pile of sticks of all shapes and sizes before Maleficent. The fae quirked an eyebrow in response to the ridiculously large amount of wood before her, but Aurora noticed the corners of her lips uplifting just slightly to let the girl know that she had done well.

Various other creatures suddenly appeared from around them, very hesitantly stepping forward and placing their gatherings on the pile as well. Maleficent surveyed them all with a surprisingly impassive expression, and Aurora could only guess what the woman was thinking.

They all stepped back fearfully, eyeing the Dark Faerie sitting before them to gauge her reaction to their work. Maleficent slowly nodded, a definite sign of her thanks, and there seemed to be a collective sigh before they all fled.

"I do wish that they weren't so afraid of you," Aurora mentioned as she watched them go.

"It is understandable. After all, when one acts like a monster, it is only expected to be treated like one," Maleficent somewhat sadly expressed, but attempted to cover the melancholy with a matter-of-fact tone.

"No. They just don't see you for who you really are."

"Oh, really? And just what is that, Beastie?"

Aurora turned to look at her godmother, her mouth opened to respond, but she quickly found herself completely mesmerized as she gaped at the older woman's yellow magic surrounding a stick, enlarging it and bending it to her will. Maleficent carefully forged another with it so that they melded and grew to hold onto her wing firmly. She closed her eyes for a second, adjusting to the apparent sudden and sharp pain, before opening them again and using one more stick to bind them all at the base of the wing.

"Wow," Aurora couldn't help but fascinatedly mumble. Maleficent offered her a slight smile that seemed more like baring her teeth as she made her way through the pain.

They were quiet for a few moments before Aurora finally realized that Maleficent was not doing anything whatsoever with the many other sticks that the girl and the other creatures had brought to her.

"I suppose we found a bit too many twigs," the girl somewhat sheepishly acknowledged. Maleficent's gaze flickered to her own, and she moved her head in the barest movement that indicated a shrug.

"I do not know so much about that. I now have something to do while I wait, despite how dreadfully bored I shall be anyways," Maleficent reassured her in her quiet, odd sort of manner, her finger winding around a twig as she formed a small figure of a person with her magic and drew leaves into her creation.

Aurora couldn't resist sending her godmother one of her warmest smiles. Maleficent offered just the tiniest grin in return as she carefully delivered her twig doll to Aurora.

It was a simple trinket, but Aurora loved it nonetheless. It was gorgeous because of the Fall-tinted leaves woven around it to form the impression of a person. She knew that it was obviously intended to be her simply because Maleficent had chosen a light-colored yellow leaf to wrap around the back of the doll's head.

"Thank you," Aurora expressed her gratitude as she examined the little thing closely. Maleficent nodded as she continued to work.

"So, how did it happen?" Aurora finally dared to ask her godmother after several long moments. Maleficent froze in her crafting, an action that did not pass Aurora by, but she quickly resumed her task.

"It was nothing really," Maleficent finally settled upon, speaking slowly and deliberately.

"Godmother, did you get into a fight?"

"In a manner of speaking," Maleficent cryptically avoided, and Aurora couldn't help but think that the older woman was not telling the entire truth and was purposefully trying to keep from informing her of what actually happened.

"Are you sure that's what actually happened?" Aurora asked, scooting a bit closer to her godmother.

"Do you doubt it?" Maleficent questioned in return, raising an eyebrow playfully as she looked at Aurora, and the blonde knew that her godmother was trying to distract.

"Yes. I suppose I do."

"Well, well… Shame upon you, child, for disrespecting your elder," Maleficent shortly replied, and Aurora allowed a musical laugh to slip out against her will, successfully drawing a smile from Maleficent.

"Doubting is not disrespecting," Aurora laughed, noticing the growing pile of dolls that Maleficent had.

"It very well could be," Maleficent told her haughtily, and Aurora could tell that she was enjoying every moment of her subtle teasing.

They quieted in a comfortable silence for a few moments, and Aurora's smile dropped slightly in thought.

"What _really_ happened?" Maleficent stopped in her work finally as she exhaled.

However, before she could answer, she was conveniently saved by the bell. Or by the crow, as the case may have been. Diaval in his small black form came flying down, cawing all the way to the best of his abilities considering the massive amounts of twigs in his beak's hold.

Maleficent closed her eyes as his crowing loudly sounded around them as soon as he landed and was able to drop his load. Aurora smiled at him, noting all of the berries that he had brought presumably for Maleficent.

The Dark Faerie carefully waved her hand, successfully transforming the crow to his human form. Diaval's man-like form quickly showed itself, and he took the berries from the ground quickly, offering them to her.

"Mistress, I got all of the berries you asked for."

"Thank you," Maleficent shortly expressed her gratitude, and Aurora quietly watched the exchange. Diaval worriedly eyed the woman as her magic surrounded the berries, crushing them and mixing them thoroughly before quite begrudgingly swallowing them.

"Now it should heal within a few hours given the magic you infused them with. I do hope you be more careful next time," Diaval indignantly spoke, almost in a scold. Maleficent's eyes flashed in his direction sharply, not uttering a word but communicating many with that one glance.

Aurora could easily see the silent command she had given Diaval in a bidding to him to shut his mouth. However, the girl couldn't quite help but ask what had happened that Maleficent would need to be more careful about in the first place.

"Diaval, what has happened to Godmother?" Aurora questioned innocently, and she saw Maleficent's gaze grow even more hostile as she stared at Diaval in a threatening manner.

Diaval looked between the two women before finally realizing the obvious extent of Aurora's knowledge surrounding the wound. He suddenly got a big grin on his face as he looked at the girl.

"I suppose she hasn't told you, eh?"

Aurora obediently shook her head in negation.

"Well? Are you going to tell her or would you like me to?" Diaval asked the winged woman with a smile on his face that was far too self-satisfied to be a true expression of joy.

Maleficent almost growled underneath her breath before she shifted her gaze to her goddaughter.

"I fell," Maleficent simply spoke, looking away quickly with her pure embarrassment showing in an uncharacteristic display.

"Would you care to explain to her how?"

"Out of a tree."

"While doing what?"

"Enjoying myself."

"How?"

At that point Maleficent didn't utter a single word, instead fiercely staring at something in the distance as she continued in her crafting of dolls from twigs and leaves. Diaval rolled his eyes behind his Mistress' back and turned his face to Aurora.

"She was making mischief and wreaking havoc with those silly faeries that raised you. In the midst of her mirth, she hadn't realized how close to the side of the branch she was getting, despite my warning calls. And she fell, hitting her wing on a rock," he explained quite simply, and Aurora's gaze snapped to her godmother in a mixture of concern, irritation, and amusement. Concern because the fall had to have hurt badly, irritation because Maleficent should not have been bothering the faeries in the first place, and amusement mostly because Aurora couldn't believe Maleficent, an image of elegance, fell from a tree branch of all things.

"Godmother!"

"If I weren't so worried, I perhaps would have laughed!" Diaval informed Aurora, and purely because of his dramatic emphasis, she felt the urge to laugh overtaking her. And so it fell out in glorious peals that she couldn't quite seem to resist now that everything seemed as if it would be alright.

Maleficent wordlessly waved her hand, turning the man into a crow yet again as he cawed in loud laughter at Maleficent's expense. Aurora couldn't resist laughing even more at the expression on Maleficent's face that was almost a pout in the fae's strange, subdued manner.

"Come, Godmother, you must admit, it is rather humorous!"

However, Aurora didn't even have a chance to say any more to the woman before an avalanche of twig dolls came crashing down upon her in a light storm. The girl gaped at her godmother in pure shock, her mirth brought to a halt for a moment.

Maleficent just eyed her with an eyebrow raised carefully, a small smile poised upon her face.

Aurora's face quickly blossomed into a smile, giggling once again as she plucked the twigs from her hair.

Maleficent's eyes softened significantly as she watched her little Beastie there on the ground before her.

Despite the fact that her godmother's wing might have been broken and Maleficent could be entirely too mischievous for her own good, she loved the woman faults and all.

After all, that was her godmother.

**A/N: Thank you to StoryReader01 for the beautiful suggestion! I kind of edited your idea a little so that it wouldn't be too terribly long before I released it. Plus, I was kind of running out of ideas for them to do while her wing was broken. Sorry that I took so long getting the whole thing ready, I have been busy with some Descendants fics that I have been going way too slow on. Please let me know what you guys think! :) Until the next Maleficent fanfic!**


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